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Template_GroupedStyles| Irrational Passions
Despite the upcoming Spider-Man set still being weeks out from release, Wizards of the Coast has begun to reveal and pull back the curtain on cards featured in their Universes Beyond Avatar: The Last Airbender set, releasing in November. In today’s livestream, we received a trailer that not only provided details on the product line itself (notably, the absence of Commander decks is an interesting choice), but also gave us a glimpse at a handful of cards. This final set of the year features...| Irrational Passions
There is no shortage of Souls-like titles on the market these days to get your fix of tough boss fights and skill-reliant gameplay, so new offerings need some special sauce to help set them apart. This time, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is the new souls game on the block and manages to provide more than just a Chinese aesthetic twist to the formula. | Irrational Passions
With gorgeous artwork and a tale rooted in Eastern mysticism, Bandai Namco aims to break into the roguelite genre with their upcoming Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, developed by Brownies Inc. During Game Days at Summer Games Fest, I had the privilege of checking out a behind-closed-doors hands-on demo of this upcoming…| Irrational Passions
One of my favorite things to do at gaming shows is to simply meander around and see what surprises and discoveries I stumble on. During Summer Games Fest’s Game Days, I had a little time between appointments and got to exploring and came across Spine, a cyberpunk action title that is currently in alpha. I…| Irrational Passions
When Control released back in the summer of 2019, my friends and I fell in love with the wild oddities and mysteries of the Oldest House. Now, as we wait patiently for its follow-up, Control 2, Remedy has released FBC: Firebreak, a new co-op experience that lets players dive back into the house — this time with friends. While the concept is exciting, the game as it currently stands is a bit rough around the black rock’s edges.| Irrational Passions
Preview| irrationalpassions.com
For fans of soulslike games, there is no shortage of studios that are looking to put their own spin on the popular genre, vying for attention. Announced back in 2021, developer Leenzee is close to releasing their take on the soulslike with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and during Games Days at Summer Games Fest, I had…| Irrational Passions
The original Onimusha is one of the first games that I played back on the PlayStation 2 that genuinely felt next-gen. Characters like Samonosuke looked like actual people, not just clumps of polygons. Monsters were terrifying and emotive, and the backgrounds (at the time) I thought were photographs of real places. I loved each new…| Irrational Passions
It has been four years since Capcom first pulled back the curtains on their brand new IP, Pragmata. Details have been scarce up until recently, but finally, at Summer Games Fest this year, players got a much better look at Diana and Hugh and what to expect in terms of gameplay. In addition to a…| Irrational Passions
I think it is safe to say that Capcom has claimed the crown for the King of Q1 when it comes to releasing powerhouse titles to start off the new year. This year, it was Monster Hunter Wilds, last year Dragon’s Dogma 2, and before that, the Resident Evil 4 remake. I could go on, and we already know what the game will be for 2026! Debatably, the biggest announcement to come out of Summer Games Fest this year was Capcom’s big reveal of the next entry in their Resident Evil series with Reside...| Irrational Passions
Deep in the farthest reaches of space, a clash of cosmic proportions is taking place, where teams of contenders face off against one another in a bid to claim planets and power, when the dust settles, will you be the conqueror or the conquered? This is Alpha Clash: Cosmic Conquest. Launching tomorrow on Kickstarter, Cosmic Conquest, published by Rising Empire Studios, was kind enough to send me a prototype copy to check out. As this was a prototype, components, and rules are all subject to ch...| Irrational Passions
As someone who was born in the late 80s and grew up in the 90s, to say that I was a fan of Power Rangers would be a gratuitous understatement. From the toys to pajamas, bed sheets to Halloween costumes, I devoured everything that those teenagers with attitudes adorned. Fast forward a couple of decades—okay, more like a few—and those colored spandex-wearing heroes still hold a precious place in my heart. So when I first discovered and tried Renegade’s Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid bo...| Irrational Passions
As I have spent more and more time perusing the tabletop area at PAX over the past few years, one booth has always caught my eye. Adorned with black curtains and decorated with skulls, this booth belonged to Archon Games. Finally, at this year’s PAX West, my curiosity got the best of me, and I sat down to try out a demo of their cult-management deck-building and area control game, Eschaton. In no time at all, I was sending my cultists out to spread the good word of my cult. My deck was bust...| Irrational Passions
Another PAX is in the books, and it brought another round of unforgettable games and lifelong memories with friends. While PAX East increasingly feels like a showcase for indie titles over AAA games (I’ve started calling it “PAX Indie”), PAX West still attracts big-name publishers, offering hands-on time with major releases announced during the summer convention season. This year’s lineup included big titles like Capcom’s Monster Hunter Wilds and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdo...| Irrational Passions
Ever since the first Octopath Traveler, I have truly believed in the wonders of Square Enix’s HD-2D aesthetic. The brilliant melding of Square’s expertise with pixel art and 3D models has enamored me and continues to do so. That’s why, after getting a chance to try the upcoming Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake at PAX West, a game I love in a series I love even more, I’m so bummed that this remake is also the first game in this style that feels like a bit of a step back for the HD-2D trea...| Irrational Passions
Back at the very start of the year, one of my goals was to dip my toe into Square’s long-running SaGa franchise finally, and to thank my vigor in completing this goal, Square has graced me with not only one new SaGa game with Emerald Beyond (check out my review HERE) but also a full-blown remake. While at PAX West, I had a chance to check out a 30-minute demo for Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, a modern recreation of the second game of the SaGa franchise, and I came away feeling far...| Irrational Passions
There were few things that I took more joy in as a kid than imagining epic battles between my action figures – struggles to the death, unlikely alliances, and harrowing underwater clashes in the kitchen sink. A similar excitement comes over me when I play the trading card game Universus. While it feels nowadays that you can’t go many places without seeing or hearing something about multiverses, crossovers, or the latest Fortnite skin featuring that one movie character you’ve heard of, U...| Irrational Passions
Dark streets, rich vendors with loot aplenty, and pompous fools that deserve a bludgeoning are all a part of a typical night in the brand new second edition release of Dark Deeds – a game about thieving and trying to get away with it. Created by veteran designer Andy Chambers and artist Mark Gibbons, this new edition from developers Rookery Publications and published by Modiphius Games quickly sank its daggers into me and is proving hard to shake – appropriate for a game about pilfering.| Irrational Passions
I’m not an adventure game or visual novel head, if I’m honest. I’m not sure what it was about Minds Beneath Us that made me want to step out of my norms and give it a try. It looks good, a sort of tactical use of flat colors and shading really gives an eerie, dream-like aura to its futuristic setting. Lots of games that heavily feature big landscapes or detailed portraits – pretty standard visual novel stuff – look good, but this does more than just off the page. It whispers somethi...| Irrational Passions
I am someone who has backed arguably far too many board games through crowdfunding. I find joy in large boxes packed full of plastic miniatures or sleeved cards, and hearing things like “complex” and “takes all day to play” makes me salivate. But I still have a soft spot for smaller and more party-tailored games for those times you just need that quick hit of board game goodness or are with a group of folks that aren’t quite as deep or interested in the hobby and are just looking fo...| Irrational Passions
In 2024, being a soulslike must be a lot of pressure. Not only are you being compared with some of the most popular and highly regarded games ever made, including the expansion to one of the greatest games of the generation coming out months before, but you’re surrounded by games of similar style looking to make a name for themselves. Deathbound follows the strategy of a lot of what you’ll find among it in the same tag on Steam: a dark world ruled by secrecy, and a stamina based sword swi...| Irrational Passions
Since 2013, Warframe has been one of those games that you either play hardcore or don’t play at all. Many players bounce of it’s very obtuse and repetitive early game, but the ones that can stick with it are rewarded with some genuinely mind-boggling storytelling, stellar world building, and dizzying mechanical depth that, when attempting to recount and bit of it to their peers, they often feel the need to punctuate a long screed of lore with a “Weird, right?” It’s a coming of age s...| Irrational Passions
Trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, Digimon, Final Fantasy, and others are perhaps my favorite genre of tabletop goodness. Being a child of the late ’80s and growing up in the ’90s, I attribute this love to my fond memories of “attempting” to play Magic with my older brother and dad at the time and playing matches with my friends on Boy Scout camping trips. It’s a passion that has stayed with me and evolved over the course of now three decades, and it’s what keeps me alw...| Irrational Passions
The Modern Horizon line of releases for Magic is always uniquely exciting, thanks to its focus on reprinting classic cards. These reprints serve an important role in the meta of Magic – making old cards legal again in the modern format of the game, but also helping to reduce the aftermarket costs of some cards from their ludicrous values down to somewhere between affordable and slightly less ludicrous. For me, cracking Modern Horizon 3 packs – the latest release of the line – turned out...| Irrational Passions
Destiny, in its many forms, has been around as a living game for 3556 days. That’s just shy of 10 years, and The Final Shape expansion of what Bungie is calling “The Light and Darkness Saga” acts as the end cap of these ten years of Destiny and Destiny 2. | Irrational Passions
As a child of the 90s, I have grown up with and experienced my fair share of trading card games, starting with the granddaddy of them all, Magic: The Gathering, starting in around 1994. I was there when the Pokemon craze was born (I actually enjoy playing the card game, not just collecting the cards!), my friends and I have sent one another to the Shadow Realm with Yu-Gi-Oh. Even to this day, I have fallen in love with the Digimon and Final Fantasy TCGs. It was thanks to these experiences tha...| Irrational Passions
Untapped Thoughts is a feature that simply presents one nerd’s rambling thoughts on the latest set of cards and the enjoyment I got out of them. Do not expect a deep dive, cost analysis, or breakdown of the value you may find; instead, expect more of what I did and didn’t like about the cards, with perhaps a dose of side tangents mixed in.| Irrational Passions
A little over two months after Destiny 2 Lightfall’s launch, I finally peeled my feelings off the wall and decided to turn them into words. I think my conflict over what to say and how to say comes a lot from the community’s mixed and often polarized response. When you’re so invested in a game that lives and breathes like this, a lot of what you see or hear day to day is from that community. It was exhausting. It was hard for me to parse how I felt with the constant overreaction in plac...| Irrational Passions
